Pitt takes a fall vs. Seton Hall
Donald Copeland scored Seton Hall's last 7 points over the final 1:56 and the Pirates ended No. 8 Pittsburgh's 16-game home winning streak with a 65-61 victory last night that greatly improved their NCAA Tournament chances.
Aaron Gray missed two free throws with 8.5 seconds remaining that would have tied it for Pittsburgh (21-6, 10-6 Big East), and Copeland followed several seconds later with two free throws to deal the Panthers their second consecutive loss and third in four games.
Kelly Whitney scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Seton Hall (18-10, 9-7) won its second in a row following three consecutive losses that damaged the Pirates' NCAA hopes. Copeland followed up a 28-point game against Cincinnati with 15 points, most of them down the stretch.
Pitt's late-season slump will likely drop the Panthers to the No. 6 seed in the Big East tournament and a 9 p.m. game Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. The Panthers were in position to secure the No. 4 spot and a first-round bye until losing to No. 16 West Virginia, 67-62, Monday night.
America East -- Brian Hodges scored 33 points to lead Maryland Baltimore-County ( 10-18) over Stony Brook, 88-70, in a first-round tournament game.
Patriot -- Kevin Hamilton had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Keith Simmons added 19 points to power Holy Cross past Navy, 78-50, in a first-round game at Worcester. The Crusaders (19-11) opened a 43-28 lead at the half and held the Midshipmen (10-18) at bay in the second half . . . Bryan White scored 13 points, including two free throws in the final two seconds, as No. 3 seed Lehigh (19-11) defeated Colgate, 48-44, in a first-round game at Worcester.
Metro Atlantic -- James Mathis scored 27 points to lead Niagara past Fairfield, 84-77, in a first-round game at Albany, N.Y. Mathis, who was 10 of 11 from the field, also had 12 rebounds as he was one of two Niagara players to post double-doubles. Clif Brown had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Purple Eagles (11-17).
NCAA Division 3 -- Dan Martin scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting and Ryan O'Keefe added 18 points to help Tufts defeat Endicott College in an opening-round game at Cortland, N.Y. The Jumbos improved to 22-6, tying a school record for victories in a season . . . Rod Headley had 15 points and eight rebounds as host Cortland broke a 24-24 tie at intermission and rolled past UMass-Boston, 68-54 . . . Ryan Cain had 22 points, including four 3-pointers, as host Worcester Tech advanced to the second round with a 79-62 victory over Bridgewater State . . . Ray Bryant had 25 points and 12 rebounds as Utica held off Gordon College at Worcester.
ECAC Division 3 -- Brian Zukowski hit his first five 3-point attempts and finished with 28 points to help Wheaton advance to the tournament championship game with an 84-77 victory over MIT at Norton . . . Brian Stanko had 25 points as Rhode Island College reached the title game thanks to an 84-48 victory over host Keene State.
Penn 57, Yale 55 -- Eric Osmundson scored 15 points and Mark Zoller added 14 as the visiting Quakers (19-7, 11-1) held off a late Bulldog rally to clinch their second-straight Ivy League title.
Cornell 71, Harvard 44 -- Adam Gore had 16 points and Brian Kreefer added 14 as the Big Red handed the host Crimson (12-14, 4-9 Ivy) their eighth straight loss.
Dartmouth 69, Columbia 62 -- Leon Pattman scored 27 points in 26 minutes to help the Big Green win at Hanover, N.H.
Brown 61, Princeton 46 -- Keenan Jeppesen had 16 points and five steals to help the host Bears (10-16, 6-7) knock off the Tigers (10-15, 8-4).
